Salvatore Adorno Jr. - Middletown, CT
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 41° 33.049 W 072° 38.854
18T E 696193 N 4602578
A Women's Christian Temperance Union fountain was restored by Salvatore Adorno Jr. and given to the City of Middletown by wife as a memorial to him after his death. It is located at Union Green on Main Street in Middletown, CT.
Waymark Code: WMQA40
Location: Connecticut, United States
Date Posted: 01/20/2016
Views: 2
In the late 19th and early 20th century the Women's Christian Temperance Union placed drinking fountains in many cities in an effort to encourage abstinence from alcoholic beverages. This W.C.T.U. fountain was originally located in front of the Municipal Building on Main Street. That building was razed in 1961. Salvatore Adorno Jr. rescued the fountain and moved it to the entrance of Middletown Drive-In, which he owned, at 540 Saybrook Road in Middletown.
Upon the death of Salvatore his widowed wife gave the 4' high, gray, cast iron fountain to the City of Middletown as a memorial to her late husband. A plaque on the fountain is inscribed:
THIS MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN
SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION
BY SALVATORE ADORNO JR.
IS RETURNED TO THE CITY
OF MIDDLETOWN AS A GIFT
IN HIS MEMORY BY ROSE
SARACENO ADORNO HIS
WIFE.
A second plaque near the faucet identifies the provenance and the date of the fountain. It is inscribed:
W.T.C.U
1909
Salvatore Adorno Sr. was born in 1916 to Italian immigrants. His father owned several movie theaters on Main Street in Middletown. He followed in the family business and opened the Middletown Drive-In in 1955. The theaer held from 875 to 900 cars and had a 120' x 52' screen. Salvatore Adorno Jr. died in 1978. His wife Rose donated the fountain back to the city in 1989.